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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28403799">The Great and Honourable</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/TillyWunderWing/pseuds/TillyWunderWing'>TillyWunderWing</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Nevermoor Series - Jessica Townsend</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, Ao3 let me format in peace I’m begging you, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Jupidad, Khad asked for angst/comfort and so they shall receive, Songfic, only towards the end tho</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 16:33:31</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,646</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28403799</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/TillyWunderWing/pseuds/TillyWunderWing</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>All his life, Jupiter struggled to find a purpose. No matter how hard he tried, he always felt sort of hollow, as if there was something missing.</p><p>Then Morrigan came into his life, and things slowly began to change.</p><p>———————————————</p><p>Written for Khad under Lumau’s Wundrous Gift Giving exchange!</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>33</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>The Great and Honourable</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/parchmentandpencils/gifts">parchmentandpencils</a>.</li>



    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>cw// addiction and mental health</p><p>(I’m not entirely sure how to properly do tws and cws so if I need to adjust it in any way please lmk!)</p><p>:]</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Jupiter North was not happy.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Not in the particular sense that one is unhappy when they miss their morning train, or spill a glass of water, or misplace something they could swear they’d just set down on the coffee table. No, this was in the broad sense, the deep kind of malcontent that withered the corners of his soul and helped him forget if he’d ever had a purpose.</span>
</p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">He was always dissatisfied. Always craving something </span> <span class="s2"><em>more</em>—</span> <span class="s1">something just out of reach, a frustrating flicker of fulfilment that slipped away the moment he tried to get his hands on it. It was tiring.</span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">That was why he always sought out a distraction. Even at a young age, Jupiter would always make an effort to do </span> <span class="s2"><em>something</em>, </span> <span class="s1">anything that might help fix it. Fix </span> <em> <span class="s2">him</span></em><span class="s1">, maybe. If he was lucky.</span></p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Minor things, like singing to himself to pass the time. Only very quietly, for the most part—gentle little self-inflicted lullabies. Or sometimes he’d play with the pen in his hand, or whatever else was in reach. He was very rarely sitting still.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">There were also the much bigger distractions.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">It was Wunsoc first. Pass the trials, join the society. Prove to himself that he had value—something to add to the world, and people who would share it with him.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Then it was the League of Explorers. Show everyone that he was worth the time, that he was more than just the sum of his education. He could make real changes in the world. He did. In the hopes it would make him less empty. It didn’t.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Of course, there was also the Hotel. The biggest distraction of all.</span>
</p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">When people looked at him, they saw a proud manager of the city’s grandest place to stay. The Deucalion gave him endless tasks to do, a thousand little distractions that kept him from falling into the strange gap in his existence. It made him successful, and it kept him busy. It made him happy on a surface level, which </span> <span class="s2"><em>did</em> </span> <span class="s1">help.</span></p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">But even with a top-tier education, a prize-winning business, a staff that felt like family and a nephew that loved him to the ends of the earth, Jupiter was still not happy.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">It wasn’t that he didn’t love his job, or his friends, or his family. He did love them all, more than he’d ever thought it was possible for anything to be loved.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">There was just something... missing. A single puzzle piece that refused to be found, no matter how avidly he looked for it.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Perhaps that was because he didn’t know what he was looking for.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Yet.</span>
</p>
<hr/><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Witnesses were not easily likeable. Jupiter knew this, had known it since he was a boy, but knowing it didn’t make it much easier to bear. It was rather difficult to find friends who trusted you when you could see every lie they told written on their face.</span>
</p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">It also made it rather difficult to like </span> <span class="s2"><em>yourself</em>, </span> <span class="s1">when you could see every flaw laid out in front of you whenever you looked in the mirror. Lies like black smudges painted over your eyes. Angry thoughts like storm clouds swirling overhead. Hatred like creeping red vines, wrapped around your neck and strangling you. Heartbreak like jagged blue spears, piercing straight through your heart.</span></p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Crushing loneliness like heavy chains wrapped tightly around your chest, which no amount of desperate clawing could break free from.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">It was an ugly sight, made even uglier by the knowledge that Jupiter couldn’t look in the mirror without hating what he saw.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He was 17 when he found an escape.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">There was something so dangerously ethereal about it. The way the velvet notes filled the air, clear and loud, but bringing with them a star-stricken silence. Jupiter craved it every moment, if only to muffle the constant, intangible emptiness that tore at him. Just a little bit. Just for a while.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">It was far too late by the time he realised he couldn’t live without it.</span>
</p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">Every week he was back. In that damn theatre, listening to that damn song. Just for a few damn moments of </span> <span class="s2"><em>quiet</em>.</span></p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He made eye contact with the performer, once. Endless dark eyes like gemstones, staring right at him. </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">In that second, that brief, fleeting instant, Jupiter felt something for the first time in years.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Not quite love. Certainly something.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">It was that exact moment when he understood just how impossibly awful it was to be alone. Someday, far in the future, he’d realise just how correct he’d been.</span>
</p>
<hr/><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I can’t see anything. There’s too much.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“You should stop if it’s tiring.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“No, no, I want to keep going. I want it to work.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Jupiter sighed. “If you’re overwhelmed, you won’t be able to focus...”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Just let me try one more time. Please, Uncle Jove? I’ll concentrate.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Jupiter looked down at his nephew’s big, pleading eyes, and cracked a small smile.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Alright. Just a few more minutes.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Jack grinned, standing on his tiptoes to look out over the Hotel lobby.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The young boy had come to stay at the Deucalion for the summer, and in that time he’d begged for Jupiter to teach him to use his Witness vision. Jupiter was skeptical at first, but Jack argued that he was so super old, practically ancient, clearly mature enough to handle it.</span>
</p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">“I’ll be eight soon,” Jack said plainly. “I’m basically an </span> <span class="s2"><em>adult</em>.”</span></p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Jupiter couldn’t argue with that logic.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He wasn’t an excellent teacher, but he did his best to help his eager nephew pick apart the mess of threads and colours, even to a small extent. Jupiter looked around the room himself, focusing carefully. He drew Jack’s attention to a middle-aged woman standing by the stairs. She was holding a phone to her ear and laughing.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Tell me what you see.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Jack blinked. “An old lady.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Jupiter covered his snort with a cough. “Alright, well. What else?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Umm.” Jack squinted. “She’s... sparkly.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Jupiter nodded. “Go on.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“There’s a cloud around her,” Jack continued, jumping up a bit to get a better look. Jupiter hoisted him up, carrying him on his hip so he had a clearer view. “It’s all golden and shiny. And it’s kind of pink and fluffy around the edges. Like cotton candy.” Jack stared with wide, sparkling eyes. “It’s pretty...”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Jupiter smiled. “Do you know what it is?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Jack shook his head.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Jupiter took another look at the woman. “It’s happiness.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Jack’s mouth dropped open in amazement, and Jupiter couldn’t hold back a laugh.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I can tell,” he continued, “that this lady is in a good place in her life. She’s satisfied with where she is. She’s got a lot of purpose—there, see those glowing strings—and she’s happy with the progress she’s made.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“How do you know all that?” Jack asked, awestruck.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I can see it plain as day, my little pirate.” He ruffled Jack’s hair affectionately, and the small boy let out a giggle. “One day, when you’re older, you’ll be able to see it too.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He set his nephew down, and the bright-eyed kid gave him a searching look as he stepped backwards. “Uncle Jove?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Yes, Jack?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Why don’t you have that? The pretty cloud?” He looked confused. “Aren’t you happy?”</span>
</p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">Jupiter let out a short </span> <span class="s2"><em>oof</em>,</span> <span class="s1">as if a brick had just been tossed into his stomach. But he put on a smile for his nephew. “It’s like I said, little pirate—you just can’t see it yet. It’s there, I promise.”</span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">“So you </span> <span class="s2"><em>are</em> </span><span class="s1">happy?”</span></p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Of course I am! How could I not be, with a little man like you by my side?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Jack gave a toothy grin, and Jupiter patted his shoulder encouragingly.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">So he was an okay liar, if nothing else. But at least he wasn’t alone.</span>
</p>
<hr/><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Scattered papers decorated the dimly lit study, their tiny print outlined in the dying glow of the firelight. Jupiter leaned back in his chair, feet propped up on the desk, and let out a sigh.</span>
</p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">Being one of Nevermoor’s most famed explorers was exciting as a concept, but the job didn’t come easy. There was always some new mission to chase up or meeting to attend, and even off-duty it seemed you could barely catch a break. People would stare in the street, whisper to each other—</span> <span class="s2"><em>“look, is that Captain North, I cant believe he’s here”</em>—</span> <span class="s1">and you’d always be expected to be </span> <span class="s2"><em>nice</em> </span><span class="s1">to them. </span></p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Especially as a hotel owner. Diplomacy was important, but it could be so terribly boring.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Jupiter stared into the crackling fireplace as a deep exhaustion settled into his bones. He tried not to look at the growing pile of documents on his desk, all the things that needed doing but he couldn’t quite bring himself to do, not now, not yet, he’d find time later.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He closed his eyes. A quiet rustle made him open them again.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Yet another paper had appeared on his work pile.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He swung his legs down off the desk, pulling himself forward to inspect this new arrival. Curls of black char lined the edge of the paper, smoking at the corners, and a little inky bird had been scribbled just next to the messy signature at the bottom of the page.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Jupiter recognised the contract immediately. His heart pounded.</span>
</p><p class="p1"><span class="s2"><em>I really hope I’m making the right decision</em>, </span> <span class="s1">he thought, as he snatched up the paper with shaking hands. </span></p><p class="p1">
  <em> <span class="s2">Eventide is only so far away...</span> </em>
</p>
<hr/><p class="p1">
  <em> <span class="s2">“You are not a curse on anyone, Morrigan Crow.”</span> </em>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Jupiter sat in his study, alone, while the conversation from earlier bounced around his head.</span>
</p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">She’d seemed so nonchalant about it. So firmly stuck in the belief that there was something </span> <span class="s2">wrong </span> <span class="s1">with her, that she was fundamentally destined to be a setback simply for existing. She’d been told as much, all her life, and she seemed to think that was okay.</span></p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">It made Jupiter exceptionally angry.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He cupped his face in his hands, trying to steel himself. He found it hard to fathom how anyone could be so casually horrible to their own child. Morrigan was a good girl—and the way her own family had treated her was beyond anything Jupiter had ever thought humankind was capable of.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He’d met some awful people in his life, yes. But none had he ever wanted to throttle as badly as Corvus and Ivy Crow.</span>
</p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">It was </span> <span class="s2"><em>inhumane</em>, </span> <span class="s1">the way they’d raised her. Jupiter could see it. Morrigan thought so lowly of herself, had been told to since she was a </span> <span class="s2"><em>toddler</em>, </span> <span class="s1">and she thought that it was normal. Her whole life, she’d never known the feeling of being loved, and of having people she could love in return.</span></p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Jupiter was determined to change that.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He couldn’t erase the way her family had treated her. He couldn’t undo the years of emotional abuse, the endless manipulation and lies that she’d been subjected to. He couldn’t take those memories away.</span>
</p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">But he </span> <span class="s2">could, </span> <span class="s1">with effort, help her to heal. He could teach her how much value she brought to the world, and help her unlearn the horrible beliefs that her birth father had instilled in her. </span></p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He couldn’t remove the pain of the past, but he could show her the recovery that the future had in store. He could help her, and she would be happy. Hopefully.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Somewhere deep within his spirit, unbeknownst to him, a gap began to fill. A thousand tiny cuts began to stitch themselves together, and Jupiter had no idea.</span>
</p>
<hr/><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">A mop of black hair appeared around the door of the Smoking Parlour. “Jupiter?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Yes, Mog?” Jupiter turned his head to look at his candidate. Sitting opposite him, Jack deeply contemplated his next move, staring intently at the chess board.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“D’you know where Fen is?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Sixth floor somewhere, I believe. Why?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Kedgeree told me to send her down to the Music Salon, because Dame Chanda told him that Frank had... you know what, it’s fine, don’t worry about it. It’s nothing major. Just need to give her the message.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Ah. Well, try the sixth floor, see if you find her there.” Behind him, there was a tiny clunk as Jack made his move.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Cool. Thanks, dad.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Jupiter gave her a thumbs up, and she disappeared again. He returned to the chessboard, pondering his next move while Jack fidgeted with a discarded piece across from him. There were a few more moments of thoughtful silence before Jack suddenly grew still.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Jupiter looked up to see his nephew giving him a weird look. “What?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Did she...” Jack began, and then paused. He shook his head slightly. “Did you hear that? Did she say what I think she said?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Who, Morrigan?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Yeah. You didn’t hear it?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Hear what?”</span>
</p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">Jack was quiet for a moment until Jupiter realised. </span> <em> <span class="s2">“Oh!”</span> </em></p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Yeah.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Oh. Huh. Well.” Jupiter put his chin in his hand, feeling awkward. “That’s a new one,” he said, half-jokingly.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Have you guys... I mean, has she...” Jack trailed off, seeming unsure of whether he should say anything. Jupiter gave him an encouraging nod, and he went on. “Have you talked about that with her? Like... like her being our family?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“We’ve not had a discussion, no. But I can talk to her if it makes you uncomfortable that she—“</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“No!” Jack interrupted quickly. “No, no no no. I don’t mean it like... I’m not... like, I’d be happy. She’s practically family anyway.” He looked sheepish. “It’s weird that it took me so long to realise she’d said it, honestly. It felt... normal.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Jupiter paused, thinking. “It did,” he said quietly.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">They continued with their game of chess, and neither of them spoke of it for the rest of the evening.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">But the moment would replay in Jupiter’s head for the next few days, over and over. Occupying the place in his mind where that blank space used to be.</span>
</p>
<hr/><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He watched his candidate with a thoughtful expression.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She was sitting in a circle alongside Jack, Frank, Charlie, and Martha, deeply absorbed in a tense game of Uno.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">A few weeks had passed since that day in the Smoking Parlour, and not a single one of them had spoken about it in any way. Honestly, he didn’t think Morrigan had even realised. But Jupiter had been thinking about it almost nonstop.</span>
</p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">He kept remembering what Jack had said. How it had felt so </span> <span class="s2"><em>normal</em>. </span> <span class="s1">He did consider himself a father figure to her, and he’d be lying if he said he’d never forgotten they weren’t actually related. She just... fit so perfectly amongst everyone he called family.</span></p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sometimes he wondered how she would feel about adoption.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He knew it was a big thing, and that it would likely take a good amount of discussion. He knew that after so many years of feeling excluded, she may still find it hard to give her trust to such an extent—but he truly wanted her to feel as if she had that choice. It was a decision no one else could make for her, and he wanted to be sure she knew that.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">But the idea of her growing up, and leaving to begin her own life, without ever having really been linked to him in that way... it didn’t quite hurt, per se. Just felt unusual in a way that couldn’t entirely be described.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">It was a conversation for another day, he decided. But it was most certainly a conversation to be had.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Looking at her in that circle, laughing and chatting with the Deucalion staff... it was like she’d been born his kin.</span>
</p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">And she </span> <em> <span class="s2">was </span> </em> <span class="s1">family, in Jupiter’s eyes. After all, she’d helped him in more ways than she could possibly know.</span></p>
<hr/><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">In the end, it was Jupiter’s own insomnia that brought him to Morrigan’s bedroom door in the dead of night.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He’d been quietly wandering the darkened halls, restless, when a small, strangled sound pulled him out of the tangle of his thoughts. He paused, listening carefully, and heard it once again—a muffled sob, so quiet it was barely audible over the steady creak of floorboards beneath him.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He gave the door three gentle knocks before entering. Morrigan was curled in on herself, facing away from him and clutching Emmett tight to her chest. She didn’t say anything when he came in, but he could see her visibly relax a little—not just in the way that the messy shadows of negativity began to seep away, but also in the way her shoulders loosened and her breathing grew a bit more even.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He sat on the bed beside her and put a hand on her shoulder. A few moments passed in silence.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Would you like to tell me what’s wrong, Mog?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Morrigan curled up a little tighter, and he gave her shoulder a reassuring pat. “It’s okay,” he said gently. “You don’t have to tell me. I’m happy to just stay here with you if you’d like.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Morrigan was quiet for another moment before sitting up. She gave Emmet a squeeze as she shuffled up beside Jupiter.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">There was a brief pause before she asked in a hushed voice, “Why do you care about me?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Jupiter tilted his head, surprised. “Well, why wouldn’t I? There’s no reason you shouldn’t have anyone to care about you.”</span>
</p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">“Yes, but... you have so much.” She paused. “The Wundrous Society. The Hotel. Jack. Why would you, </span> <em> <span class="s2">specifically </span> </em> <span class="s1">you, of all people, want to take in... me?” She sniffed. “I mean, I get it, Wundersmith, Squall, all that. But why </span> <span class="s2"><em>you</em> </span> <span class="s1">in particular?”</span></p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Jupiter thought about it for a while. He mulled over his response carefully, picking all the words and phrases which would best articulate his message. Eventually, he gave her a simple answer: “I really don’t know.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Morrigan opened her mouth, as if to say something, but Jupiter hurried on.</span>
</p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">“Listen, Mog. Sometimes things just sort of... happen, right? I can’t say for sure why you ended up here. I can’t really say why I took it upon myself to help you, to be truthful. I just...” He paused. “I think, back when I met you, all I saw was a sweet kid in a bad situation, and I just went, ‘here’s how I can help her’. I didn’t need a reason to handle it like I did. But you never really </span> <em> <span class="s2">need </span> </em> <span class="s1">a reason to show love, besides the obvious fact that life would be nothing without it.”</span></p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Morrigan was silent for a second. “My family wouldn’t think so—“</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“They’re not your family,” Jupiter said before he could stop himself. “Not where it matters.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“What’s that mean?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Trust doesn’t run in blood. It’s built, Mog. Love’s the same way.” He turned on his side, facing towards her. “You don’t owe them a single thing, little wildfire. Don’t dictate your beliefs based on what they wanted you to think, ‘cause they didn’t know the first thing about you.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Morrigan thought this over. “I always felt like I deserved it,” she added quietly.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Deserved what?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“The way they treated me. They wouldn’t just... they couldn’t do that to me if they didn’t have a reason to, right?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Just because someone has a reason for doing something doesn’t make it right. They treated you like that because they were afraid of you. In no way is it your fault that they were cowards.” He looked her in the eye. “I need you to understand that, Mog. Life can be terribly unfair. Please don’t ever blame yourself for it.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">This quieted her again, and after a while she leaned her head on Jupiter’s shoulder with a deep sigh. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I know I’m getting things wrong.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“No, it’s okay,” he replied reassuringly. “I’m proud of you, Morrigan. It takes a lot of strength to make it as far as you have.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">In the moments of quiet peace that followed, Jupiter considered all the ways in which she’d changed his life. He’d made such an effort to help her heal from his past that he’d barely noticed how she was helping him heal from his own.</span>
</p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">Maybe she was what he had been missing. Perhaps the knowledge that he’d bettered someone’s life, </span> <em> <span class="s2">truly </span> </em> <span class="s1">made a difference to someone in need, had finally been enough to satisfy his endless hunger for self-fulfilment.</span></p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Even still, he wished he could do more. He wished there were other ways of helping her, besides his poorly organised words of advice and quiet affirmations of self worth.</span>
</p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">Maybe he couldn’t do much. But there was one thing he </span> <em> <span class="s2">could </span> </em> <span class="s1">do, if all else failed.</span></p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He could offer a distraction.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Here, lay down,” he told her, and she did so, snuggling down into the covers. He placed a gentle hand on her head, running his fingers through her jet-black hair in a continuous, soothing motion.</span>
</p><p class="p1"><span class="s2"><em>“Blackbird singing in the dead of night,”</em> </span> <span class="s1">he sung in a soft voice. Morrigan’s breathing gradually slowed.</span></p><p class="p1">
  <em> <span class="s2">“Take these broken wings and learn to fly.</span> </em>
</p><p class="p1">
  <em> <span class="s2">All your life,</span> </em>
</p><p class="p1">
  <em> <span class="s2">You were only waiting for this moment to arise.”</span> </em>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He looked down at Morrigan’s now-sleeping form and smiled. An intangible warmth spread through his chest, the kind he only wished he could feel more often. The kind that felt like sunshine, that made you feel like you’d swallowed stars.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <em> <span class="s2">“Blackbird, fly.”</span> </em>
</p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">Jupiter North looked at his candidate—his </span> <em> <span class="s2">daughter</span> </em> <span class="s1">—and he was happy.</span></p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Not in the particular sense that one is happy when they see a dog, or eat a homemade lunch, or finally get around to that little thing they’ve been meaning to do for ages and have finally got the chance to complete. No, this was in the broad sense, the deep kind of satisfaction that healed the bleeding wounds in his spirit and finally reminded him of the purpose he’d been fulfilling all along.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <em> <span class="s2">“Blackbird, fly.”</span> </em>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Somewhere, a puzzle piece fell into place.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <em> <span class="s2">“Into the light of a dark black night...”</span> </em>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This would be my first time attempting sort-of songfic and all I have to say is idk if I can listen to that song anymore without crying.<br/>Anyway this is poorly structured! And badly written! And probably doesn’t fit in with the canon timeline at all! But it is Here.<br/>Thank you to the lovely Khad for being so patient on this lol. It took a while but I got it done. :D</p></blockquote></div></div>
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